The tortoise and the hare

Paola and I returned from the most incredible trip to Tanzania on Sunday - I am pleased to say we made the summit of Kilimanjaro at 7am last Saturday 1st November. It was the most memorable moment of my 26 years so far, and was an unforgettable experience - the views from the 'roof of Africa' were breathtakingly beautiful, and I can only begin to imagine what they will be like in the Himalayas next year on our trek to Everest base camp.

The weeks trek flew past and I think we were both surprised at how much we enjoyed it, I think we had both secretly been expecting to be dreading emerging from our tent each morning knowing what was ahead of us! Our guides were amazing and extremely knowledgeable and the two if us were looked after by our very own team of 17 people for the week, we were desperate to get going each morning knowing that more stunning scenery would be waiting, and each day took us closer to the summit attempt which we were both hugely excited about.

Despite some smug glances over the first 3 days from other trekkers on the same route, all appearing amused at how slow we were walking, we were continually assured by Joseph and Godwin, our guides, of the tale of the tortoise and the hare, and that taking it reeeeeeally slowly would get us to the top. Sure enough, and to the annoyance of a particular group of Swiss who we kept passing over the week, we were indeed the first to the summit on the day - many of them didn't make it and had to turn back due to altitude sickness. Paola and I were both incredibly lucky - less than 5% of people who attempt the Kilimanjaro climb manage to make it to the summit with NO effects of the altitude, we were both in that small proportion of lucky climbers, and were incredibly grateful when we saw the effects that this has on others. Apart from some minor and quickly disappearing headaches and a few re-occurring nose bleeds, which both still clearly demonstrate the effects of altitude on the body, we managed to get through the week pain free. We passed many people on the summit day who just fell short of the final summit - due to overpowering headaches, continuous vomiting, and feeling so weak that they literally were unable to continue to put one foot in front of the other. Many people had begun to spot the signs of altitude early into their trip, but had carried on regardless, ignoring symptoms and hoping that they would go away as they continued walking. It was those who sadly did not make the top, and hearing all of these stories on the decent really made the seriousness of altitude hit home.
It was purely chance and luck that the two of us had been so fortunate, and of course due to the excellent advice of our guides.

Kilimanjaro is a beautiful mountain, and if I had the chance I would turn around and fly back out tomorrow to do the week again.
Our first two days were spent walking through lush and verdant rainforest, we were lucky enough to see some rarely spotted Colabus monkeys and some stunning birds on these days. Gradually as we got higher, the surroundings changed dramatically and any sign of life and vegetation disappeared - the volcanic and baron environment of the mountain began to show itself and instead of camping below the canopy of green ferns and indigenous trees, we instead perched on rocky patches of ground where the wind whistled! The lacking vegetation and exposed locations had their advantages however - each morning we woke to cloudless clear skies, and after day three awoke to views perched from above the cloud line- quite simply indescribable.

Friday brought with it the 'final push' - we had a half day walking so that we were well rested, and went to bed for a few hours after lunch to get some sleep. We then awoke at 4 to get our kit ready and prepared, and after more food at 6 went to bed again to try and sleep before the mid night departure. The stars were like nothing I had seen before - the most amazing display I had previously experienced was in the middle of the desert in Morocco, but this was on a different scale (and the ONLY benefit of having to wake up in the middle of the night to go to the loo: leaving the tent in -10 degrees with howling winds was not always tempting!).

We left at 12.08am with our two guides, and 3 of the porters who we had got to know over the week who were keen to come with us. As we walked into the night the only gage of direction and steepness of the path was the tiny line of white lights from the head torches ahead of us, it was a concentrated and intense atmosphere as we trekked on rare moments of silence. The hours surprisingly flew by, helped enormously by the fact that our merry band of men sang almost non stop for the entire summit climb!
At 6am we reached Stella Point as the sun was rising over Africa - a huge boost to morale as energy levels were fading fast and we had no idea how long we had been trekking for, another clever technique adopted by the guides. It was the most impressive sunrise I had ever experienced- the blanket of clouds beneath us turned from a pale gold through to an intense pink and orange as the sun appeared and rose above them - we then knew that nothing was going to stop us from making the Uhuru peak. Another hours walk, due to both the incredibly slow pace and rapidly depleting energy levels, but a very exciting last effort.

Paola and I reached Uhuru at 7am, and were blown away by the panoramic views surrounding us. On one side of the peak lies a strangely lunar landscape which seems to belong in a scifi film, grey dust and craters- the colours of which enhanced by the vivid azul skies and gleaming white snow.
On the other we looked across to a huge glacier, sitting above the clouds which formed a blanket beneath us, and the snowy rock faces disappearing into the distance below us.

The immense feeling of satisfaction is not one which I will forget in a hurry and reaching the summit was certainly the proudest moment of my 26 years so far.
Paola and I did not stop laughing all week and had an unforgettable trip despite the fact that it was just two of us and our group of cheery guides and porters.
If Kili is anything to go by, then I can only imagine the fun and unforgettable experiences which we will all share together on our 18 day trip next April... bring on Base Camp.